Highlights d We used a transdisciplinary approach to support more inclusive water planning d We developed a hydro-socio-ecological model to underpin water allocation decisions d We propose principles for using e-flows to protect biodiversity and Indigenous values

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This interdisciplinary paper presents an empirical analysis of techno-institutional lock-in in a regional fishery, in the Logone floodplain in the Far North Region of Cameroon. In the Logone floodplain, one fishing technique is spreading exponentially even though it is changing the social, hydrological and ecological dynamics of the system in ways that are largely considered problematic by local communities. We use a complex systems framework to analyze large hydrological and socio-economic datasets. Results show how social-ecological feedbacks foster the spread of the technique and contribute to the process of lock-in. The lock-in leads to a resistance to change despite awareness of the t chniqu 's impact, a situation that may also be described as a social-ecological trap. We identify and explain four kinds of positive feedback loops relating to socio-economic, behavioral, demographic and hydrological processes, respectively. We also identify possible solutions that consider the complexity of the feedback loops across multiple dimensions of the floodplain system.

Lake Como receives inflows of vastly varying scales. The majority of the lake's water comes from the alpine inflows to the north, and much smaller inflows supply large amounts of pollutants in the south. We combined various data sets with a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model to investigate the processes affecting the fate of these inflows with potential applications for management responses to both pollution and climate change effects. During the stratified period inflow waters from the northern alpine sources intrude in the metalimnion, undergo a deflection due to the Earth's rotation, and subsequently affect local flushing in a semi-closed embayment receiving the shallower intrusions of the small polluted inflows.